


Sweet Dreams And Bitter Truths

by evetessmacher



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Confessions, Date Night, Dinner Date, Dream AU, Dreamer Powers - Freeform, Dreams, F/M, Legion Ring - Freeform, Post Season 5, Reminiscing, Time Jump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:13:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28408287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evetessmacher/pseuds/evetessmacher
Summary: During a winter girls' night, Nia takes Kara on an unusual "dream" journey that will make her reevaluate her newest relationship and think about her future.
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Mon-El, Kara Danvers/Mon-El, Previous Kara Danvers/William Dey
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	Sweet Dreams And Bitter Truths

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii everyone! I'm so sorry for not being productive at all, but 2020 has taken its toll on me and my muse, but I hope you can still enjoy this fanfic I've been working on for a few months now :) Happy New Year to you all!

“Well, it was a quite different girls’ night.” As Nia poured the remaining wine into her glass, Kara thanked her for being the only one to not stand her up.  
“Are you saying that because I made you watch a Barbie movie or because it’s just the two of us?”  
She chuckled, “Both, obviously. I surely didn’t expect you to pick the Barbie version of A Christmas Carol but, while we were watching the movie, I started wondering something about your dream powers..”  
The Naltorian finished gulping the beverage and raised an eyebrow, Kara continued, “When you go into someone’s dreams, can you guide them like these spirits of Christmas do? Do they have to let you in first?” She cringed at her choice of words.  
  
“Uhm, yes I can guide them, and I can get into their dreams even if they’re not aware, especially because they can’t see me unless I want them to. Why do you ask?”  
“I was just wondering if there’s anyone out here who dreams of being a hero because of Supergirl, or dreams of working with me. But I’m not sure you can actually _‘search_ ’ for things or people as if you were typing into DreamGoogle.”  
“Oh, you sweet, innocent, summer child.” She said with a deep sigh.  
Confused, Kara stuttered an uncertain “What?”  
“First of all, I actually _can_ do that, and the reason why I know that is because I’ve-” Nia made air quotation marks, “searched for Dreamer as well.”  
“You did? And?”  
“I know you expect little girls and little boys dreaming of meeting their idol, but reality is much more.. crude.”

  
“Oh no, do I wanna know what you’re implying?”  
Nia sighed once more, “Sex, Kara. I saw grown men who only dream of these pretty superheroes as sex dolls.”  
Her curiosity turned into disgust, her entire body felt the urge to throw up, “AAAGH, EW! That’s revolting! I hate it so much, why did you have to tell me that?!?”  
“At least you didn’t have to _see_ it with your own eyes! I am _traumatized_!”  
“Ugh, forget I asked about this…”  
“You know, you could still see who dreams of Kara, not Supergirl.”  
The blonde reporter was suddenly more pensive, “I don’t know if anyone would ever dream of me, unless it’s one of those weird nonsensical dreams.”  
“Just say the word and I can see if there is someone dreaming of you right now, it’s almost 1 AM after all.”  
“Promise me you’re not saying this because you want me to end up traumatized like you.”  
“I promise.” Nia chuckled, “But if we see something spicy I wanna tell the other girls!”  
“No, you won’t!” Kara emphasized every word moving her index finger accusatorily.  
“So, is that a yes? Can I start looking?”  
“…Yes. But if you see something bad, don’t tell me.”  
“Alright.” Dreamer closed her eyes and immediately sensed something, “Somebody is dreaming about you right now.”  
Not expecting such a quick response, Kara’s eyes nearly popped out, “What is it? Or who is it?”  
“Oh, looks like we’re in a restaurant.” Nia continued “I guess we can safely say it’s not one of _those_ dreams: ready to join me?” Her eyes were still closed, but she offered her hand to her friend who took it, unsure of what the next step was going to be.

The both of them were swiftly catapulted into a really fancy looking restaurant; they were sitting at a table looking for something or someone that rang a bell, then, all of a sudden, they knew what they were supposed to see.  
  


Nia squeaked, still whispering, “It’s William! This is his dream!”  
Truth to be told, Kara did _not_ expect to be in his dream, which _seemed as fancy as he was,_ she thought. Still speechless, her cheeks got flushed, and the next thing she saw was _herself_ walking towards his table.

  
“Trippy” was the only word that left her mouth:  
her hair was up in a sleek and elegant style, she was wearing a long sleeved purple dress with a pretty generous, but not vulgar, V-cut. _I never wear that color, s_ he noted as a matter of fact.  
“You look gorgeous.” William greeted her with a kiss on her cheek, “Thank you.”

Nia aww’d at the sweet gesture but Kara was still frozen, “When does looking at yourself in someone else’s dream start feeling less weird?”  
“C’mon, enjoy it! It’s not real, it’s like watching a movie.”  
“Right.”  
Dream Kara started talking, “So, what did you plan for tonight?”  
“You’ve always told me how much you love food, and I’ve also seen it in the way you devour anything I make-“ he chuckled “that’s why I chose the highest rated restaurant of the city, because you deserve the best.” William paused, “And I know you love watching movies, so tonight is all about great food and movies, because after dinner, we’re going to watch the latest Nolan film at the cinema!”  
“What?” Real life and Dream Kara yelled at the same time, but in very different tones.  
Dream Kara sang the praises of William for being so thoughtful and getting the perfect idea, while Kara wasn’t too pleased: Nia connected the dots, but didn’t speak up.  
The pair ordered their food, the meals were really gourmet-y and didn’t look too appetizing, but Kara wasn’t going to say that out loud.

She felt really unappreciative in that moment, _“Maybe that’s his way to show how much he cares! You should try something different than Chinese takeout for once!”_ a voice in the back of her head tried to tell her; she focused on the table again and realized they were talking about work, however, they were not discussing CatCo, but the The Guardian— _were they in London? She did not see that coming._

 _  
_ William brought up his family and how badly they wanted to meet his girlfriend, especially his brothers--- _he has a brother? Multiple brothers? Why didn’t she—Hold up, he called her his girlfriend.  
_Nia looked at Kara, who flinched at the mention of the word, but her expression remained puzzled and didn’t soften. “Kara?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Are you okay?”  
“Absolutely.” Both of them knew she was lying but didn’t expand it.  
“We could meet them on Sunday, what do you think?” He spoke between morsels of his deconstructed chicken salad.  
“Sounds perfect.”  
  
“Can I ask you something?” Nia distracted Kara from whatever conversation her dream counterpart and William were having. “Sure.”  
“On how many dates have you gone with him?”  
“I think six or seven.”  
“And what kind of dates were they?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Were they anything like this one?”  
“No, the opposite. Very casual.”  
“How many of those dates were at Al’s Bar?”  
“Two..”  
“And how many of those dates were just lunch breaks before getting back to CatCo?”  
“Two..”  
“And how many of those dates were at that new Mexican restaurant on Karaoke night?”  
“Two..”  
“Mh-mh.” Nia turned her gaze to the table again, while Kara tried to process her feelings in that moment.

  
  
A second later, they were sitting in the back row of the cinema, while William and Dream Kara were sharing popcorn and giggling at some inside joke, before the opening credits started rolling.  
  
_Seriously, Christopher Nolan? I would never watch one of those mind-tricking movies on purpose!  
_As the film went on, the couple whispered how impressive the camera angles were, something about the color palette mirroring the dilemma of the main character, William commented on the cinematography and added that he knows one of the camera operators for the movie.  
Kara tapped Nia’s arm, “Please get me out of here.”  
  
In the blink of an eye, the two friends were sitting on the couch again.  
Kara started fidgeting nervously with the hem of her sleeve, “I- I don’t know what to say.”  
“The way I see it, you know exactly what to say, what you’re truly feeling, but you’re scared to say it out loud.”  
Nia was right, so she took a deep breath and tried to make sense of the tangled mess inside of her head: “Be patient with me and forgive me for the endless blabbing you’re about to endure.”  
“I’m here for you, Kara. No matter what, I’m here to listen to you and help you as much as I can, this is what friends are for.” Nia put her hand on Kara’s shoulder and she smiled, grateful for her presence in her life.

  
“William is a wonderful guy: he’s smart, he’s funny, he’s hardworking, he’s passionate and we have a lot in common. At first, I was scared to go on a date with him because of who-- what I am, but then it was fine! And I thought I’d feel more comfortable as we went on more dates: we would eventually find more topics to talk about, I’d open up more with him while he’d do the same, but it just wasn’t happening. I thought I was the problem because any time a more serious subject was mentioned, I changed it into something more trivial… 'cause I was terrified of accidentally revealing something I wasn’t supposed to. Now, it’s been almost a year since I’ve met him for the first time, and he knows enough things about me to think he knows me, but not enough to actually do.

  
He doesn’t know I like the trashiest junk food, not that overtly extravagant but tasteless cuisine we were eating in that restaurant. And I’m proud to say I love cheesy rom-coms and musicals! Not Oscar worthy blockbusters only middle aged men and cinephiles can appreciate. But all that William knows is that I love food and movies, because that’s all I let him know. I’m.. I'm finally realizing that the lies I had to tell him were not the problem; it was us.  
We both deserve something more than “just fine”.  
I’m sure there’s someone out there who will appreciate him for who he is and will be able to talk to him about everything without restraints, I’m just not that person.”  
  
“Do you still feel guilty?”  
“No and I’m glad I could finally let it all out.” Kara’s relief washed all over her, “However, I still have to say this to his face and I’m terrified.”  
“William doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy who makes everything about himself, but, in the very unlikely case he’s going to react badly, you’ll have one more reason why you weren’t going to work.”  
“You’re so smart, did I ever tell you that?”  
Nia shrugged, “Even if you did, hearing it one more time isn’t too bad.”

They shared a laugh and Kara felt carefree, as if a burden had just been lifted off her back.  
“I think we can start changing into our PJs and go to sleep.” She changed topic and stood up from the couch, but Nia had other plans: “Don’t you wanna see if there’s someone else dreaming about you right now?”  
She scratched her head, “I mean, you can look if you want, but point 1, I don’t think there’s gonna be two in one night, that’s too much, and point 2, if there is, I don’t think I’m psychologically ready to deal with it right now.”  
“Fine, fine..” Nia closed her eyes again and focused, with her lips forming a tight line, when all of a sudden: “Woah. There _is_ someone else.” Kara stopped in her tracks and dramatically turned around, incredulous. Dreamer continued talking, “There is someone else but the energy of their dream is much weaker than William’s, as if it’s happening far, very far away from here. Have you changed your mind yet?”  
_Far away? Who could it be? Clark in Metropolis? How far away is very far away?  
  
_Nia raised her hand for her to take it: Kara chewed on her bottom lip unsure of what to do next, until she murmured “Screw this, it’s just a dream” and transported into another fantasy.  
  
When the two girls opened their eyes, for a second, it seemed as if Dreamer’s powers malfunctioned and they hadn’t moved from Kara’s living room, but observing more attentively they realized it wasn’t Kara’s place anymore, yet it was _awfully_ similar to it. The furniture was pretty much the same, but her bedroom wasn’t in the right spot, there were two rooms there instead, and then _stairs_ : basically, it was a larger version of her house and whoever was dreaming of this, had certainly been in her loft before.

  
Before either of them could say a word, the man Kara least expected to see walked towards the kitchen to check on the boiling pots on the stove: “Mon-El?” Her voice was so weak Nia barely heard it, “That’s Mon-El?” She echoed, “THE Mon-El?” She gasped at the sight.  
He was wearing a grey shirt with matching sweatpants, all covered by a bright red apron, “I don’t understand, he’s in the future, how can we be in his dream right now?” Kara’s mind was running all over the place, but she noticed one tiny detail, that made her want to get closer to him: “My necklace..” She wanted to touch it, but her hands were shaking.  
  
“That necklace must be the reason we can see his dream right now.” Nia exclaimed, “On Naltor, it is common to gift each other these small Naltorian minerals that have oneiric powers: the receiver, whenever they keep it close, or in this case, wear it, can see the person who gave it to them in their dreams.”  
“That.. that’s why my mother gave it to me before I left Krypton.” Kara’s eyes filled with tears, for the secret her mom had kept from her and the fact that Mon-El had never stopped wearing her necklace, despite all the years they had spent apart.  
  
The door opened, Dream Kara – again - walked inside and took off her glasses: she had her hair up in a half-ponytail, wore a navy blue shirt and jeans, and looked pretty tired. “Surprise!” He welcomed her with a peck on her lips, and the small gesture made Kara’s stomach flutter, “Since you had to work on a weekend, and the Chinese restaurant was closed, I made homemade potstickers!”  
Dream Kara’s jaw dropped and she put her arms around Mon-El’s neck: “You. Are. Unbelievable.”  
“Hey, there’s still a chance they taste terrible.” He smirked, but she continued, “Making them yourself in the first place is already the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.” She kissed him for the second time, and Kara’s stomach did another somersault: “Let’s go eat now, you don’t want them to get cold.”

  
His voice sounded sweeter than candy at every word, Kara hung her coat and bags and finally sat down in front of him and their inviting plates. Mon-El was so eager to hear what she thought of his first try at Chinese food, she could see it in his bright eyes: “Be brutally honest, pretend I didn’t make these.”  
Kara bit into the potsticker, and chewed quietly focusing on its taste, waiting a few seconds to declare her verdict:  
“It’s..so good!! I can’t believe you got them to taste this delicious on your first try.”  
“Really?” He bit into one of his own dumplings, and was definitely surprised by the results, “Not half bad!”  
“I really needed these, thank you.” Her voice lost a bit of its previous excitement and Mon-El noticed immediately:  
“What’s wrong?” Kara loved that adorable concerned look he gave her, he was always so caring.

  
“This is the third day in a row Morris has made us write all about the Metropolis Monarchs winning the championship. Believe me, I get it, _“First Historical Win in 50 Years!”_ I got it on the first day, the second day, I _still_ get it.” Dream-Kara’s voice seemed altered and upset, yet she tried to mask it. “He rejected my story _again_ , and made me interview two players and UGH!” She covered her face to groan, “It was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. When will I get back to writing about things that actually matter? The adoption rate here in Metropolis”- _why were they in Metropolis?_ “is at an all time low, and aliens are always at the bottom of the list.”  
Mon-El extended his hand on the table and grabbed hers, “Hey, I know adjusting to this new city and workplace has been really hard, but storms don’t last forever: you’re the most determined and incredible writer I know, and I feel like this Morris is just testing you because you’re the newbie, but don’t lose faith in yourself, okay?”

Kara and her dream doppelganger were looking at Mon-El in the same adoring way, thankful for his advice and his unconditional support. Nia’s head kept turning to “both” girls, noticing that there was way more that she didn’t know about her story with the Legion leader, but Kara was too entranced by Mon-El’s vision to care.  
“Enough moping, what did you do this morning? How’s the bar coming along?” She took another big bite on her third potsticker.  
“Ahh, it’s so great, the new cabinets and shelves arrived today and we’re currently setting them up, the vision is slowly but surely coming along, I can’t wait for the opening day.”  
Kara’s smile mirrored his, “I’m so proud of you, did I ever tell you that?”  
  
_“No, but you should’ve had.”_ Kara’s subconscious interjected.  
“And I love you.” He replied lovingly, booping her nose.

The couple had finished their _“Five Star Meal”_ as Dream Kara had described it, and was now heading towards the couch where Nia and Kara were sitting: obviously they didn’t know the spot was occupied, but they needed to get up.  
Standing in the kitchen now, they observed what felt so familiar to Kara, yet so far from what her daily life looked like nowadays.  
As Dream Kara picked a movie to watch, Mon-El spoke about another thing he was looking forward: “I cannot wait to go back to Argo for the holidays, I really miss it.”  
Kara grinned excitedly, his arms surrounded her body, she fixed the blanket over them: “Yes, me too! Although, it’s gonna feel strange to be there, I mean, in a good way, since the last time we were there was for our wedding.”

Once she realized how pale her friend had become, Nia was immediately ready to catch Kara’s body in case she passed out. “W-wedding?”  
“Why aren’t you wearing rings? What kind of wedding was that?” Nia tried to lighten the mood, while Kara started fanning herself, “It must’ve been..a Kryptonian ritual.” Suddenly her cheeks were scorching, her breath was heavy and her lungs felt exhausted.  
Once she calmed down, her irritating subconscious whispered again: _“It looks like you weren’t the only one who envisioned a future together..”_

 _  
_ Kara needed to look away from the newly - _maybe not so newly_ \- wed couple cuddling on the couch;  
her eyes fell on a calendar hanging on the fridge and felt shocked for the second time in a few minutes, because it said _December 2041_.  
  
“Nia.. look.” Her voice was choked up, as she finally began to understand why they were in a new city with new jobs, and probably, even new names.  
“But how?”  
“Kryptonians and Daxamites age slower on Earth, that’s why we look not even a few years older.”  
Kara started thinking about what this implied for her relationships on this planet, her relationships with humans, Alex…

“Nia, I think I need to leave.” Tears were welling in her eyes and she couldn’t afford to break down in that moment.  
In a blink, she was back in her living room and feeling drained by the experience.

  
They sat in silence, one waiting for the other to say something:  
“I wasn’t expecting any of this-” Kara murmured weakly, “-the necklace, seeing him wear it after all this time, watching a life we could’ve had before my eyes.. It was a lot.”  
“It’s kind of funny how we saw two dreams with the same concept of _“Dinner and Movie Date”_ being so wildly different.”  
“Right..”  
  
_Honestly, she had forgotten there was another dream before.  
_“Do you want to talk about him?”  
“Mon-El?”  
Nia nodded, but Kara didn’t know how to talk about him and their story..

 _‘Do I talk about it as something that was never going to work?  
Do I talk about it as something I’ve desperately wanted to work?  
Do I talk about it as if I’m over it?  
How do I talk about this when I’ve been trying to avoid thinking of it for years?’  
  
_“What do you want to know?”  
“You’ve never truly talked about Mon-El with me, all that I know is from the few times Brainy mentioned him, and when I asked about him to the other girls, they frowned saying it was a touchy subject for you.”  
She chuckled, “That’s an understatement.”  
  
“What was your relationship like?”  
“When it started, it was something foreign for both of us. It was our first real relationship and we didn’t know how to behave: I hated showing my vulnerable side and he didn’t know how to express his feelings without acting impulsively, but then we figured it out and.. we were really, really happy together. I never had to hide a part of me to Mon-El, to him I was a girl from Krypton, not Supergirl or Kara Danvers. That meant the world to me. He made me feel special and loved every single day. I was on cloud nine.. until I had to send him away to save him, at least..”  
  
“I know things were hard for both of you when he returned..”  
“In hindsight, I think they were easier for me than they were for him. After all, I thought _he_ was happily married and we were done and _I_ was the one who had to move on” Kara paused, she felt as if she was opening an old wound again, “but then he revealed his true feelings about me on Argo. He was struggling more than I had expected, but finally I thought we had a chance. My wishful thinking wasn’t enough to make him stay, though: the future needed him and I couldn’t selfishly stop him from leaving again.”  
  
“Seeing yourself with Mon-El again in that dream, how did it make you feel?”  
A deep sigh escaped her lips, “It was bittersweet, because it reminded me of the happiest months of my life, but right now, I know I’ll never find something remotely similar.”  
“Do you want something like that in your future?”  
“Well, what I want in my future is not what’s in the cards.”  
“No, listen to me, Kara: stop being so pessimistic about your life, you deserve to have everything you want, you deserve to be happy and fulfilled for the rest of your days. Being a superhero doesn’t make you any less worthy of joy and love, it’s the opposite: no one deserves that life more than you do.”  
“I’ll try to remember that.”  
The two friends shared a soft, empathetic smile before heading to bed.

Truth to be told, Kara tried to live in the moment as much as possible, because she knew that one day, everything she’d ever known about living on Earth as Kara Danvers, would change forever: her friends and family would be gone in one way or another and she would be forced to start all over again, alone.

* * *

A day later, Kara was walking up the stairs of an unfamiliar building to tell William how she truly felt about their relationship. When he opened the door he welcomed her with such a bright smile that she started feeling guilty.  
“Kara! Come in.”  
“Actually, I don’t think it’s a good idea, I just wanted.. to talk.”  
He must’ve caught the tremor in her voice because his demeanor changed in a second, “Talk about what?”  
  
“About our relationship. I don’t want to keep deceiving you, you do not deserve it, but this is not what I want.”  
Kara breathed out, “Please, know you have done nothing wrong,” she continued answering all the questions she knew he had, “when I said you were a wonderful guy, I meant it and I still do, but I started thinking about my future… and I just couldn’t see us in that way.”  
William was rightfully speechless, “I appreciate your honesty, even if it hurts.”  
“It would’ve hurt more if we stayed in a relationship where both sides were not on the same wavelength.” He nodded, but avoided her gaze.  
  
“Did… did you meet someone?”  
“No.”  
“But there’s someone else.”  
Now it was Kara’s turn to drop her head to look somewhere else, “Sort of. It’s complicated.”  
“It must be very complicated if he still affects you to this day.”  
“How did you know he was someone from my past?”  
“Lucky guess.” They both chuckled.  
“We’re still friends, right?” She changed the subject, feeling rather nervous.  
William smirked, “Yes, don’t worry about that.” And finally, Kara felt such a relief knowing that they were still okay and she didn’t have to dodge him at work, it would’ve made her feel way worse.

_Now what?  
_Once she closed the door back at her loft, Kara realized that she was still _very, very far_ from the life she wanted: she was there alone, in National City, in the 21st century while Mon-El was who knows where, a millennium away.  
The turmoil inside of her stomach only kept getting louder and louder ever since she’d seen his dream and she didn’t know if it was because of nostalgia, or a need for a specific type of comfort she wasn’t getting anymore.  
All that Kara knew was that she had to talk to him, to find some clarity, in one way or another.

She flew inside of the Tower, hoping to run into the only person who knew how to answer her question: “Hey, Brainy. Can I ask you a favor?”  
“What’s it about?”  
Kara scratched her face, she was sure her request was going to sound extremely random: “Is there some way I can talk to Mon-El?”  
Brainy raised his eyebrow: “Why?”  
“It’s none of your business.” She cringed at her own words, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that, but don’t worry, it’s not an emergency, but… yeah, I really need to talk to him. Do you think I can use the Legion Ring he gave me?”  
“I have to make an adjustment and make sure it works well, then I’ll give it back to you.”  
“Okay, and how long is that going to take?”  
_Gosh, Kara, stop sounding so desperate!  
_“An hour, maybe two. Do you have it with you?” Kara didn’t know whether she was being judged by her friend or that was actually just his resting cynical expression and it was all in her head.  
“No, no, it’s in the Fortress, let’s go.”

The two aliens took flight and landed in the frozen location, she rushed to grab her ring and watched as Brainy fidgeted and toyed with it, determined to take it back as soon as this update was done. That hour seemed endless, but at the end, Brainy instructed Kara on how their call was going to work:  
he had linked Mon-El’s ring to hers in a way they could only talk to each other. As usual, he blabbed a lot of additional information about data, but Kara could only register the basics of it- “Thank you so much for doing this, I owe you a big favor!”- in the blink of an eye, Supergirl soared up in the sky and the poor Coluan didn’t even get the chance to reply.  
  


Back at her loft, Kara’s excitement grew by the second: she turned off her phone so no one could bother them and finally took the ring in her hands. Biting her lower lip, she prayed she wasn’t going to disturb Mon-El during anything important. After following Brainy’s instructions, she could hear quiet noises and footsteps: “Mon-El? Can you hear me?”  
The footsteps stopped, he froze in his tracks, “Hello?” he spoke closer to his jewel now, “Mon-El, it’s Kara.” She inhaled a deep breath, scared of what his reaction could’ve been.  
“Kara.” He said in that same soft voice she had heard in his dream, “Are you okay?”  
_Of course that was going to be the first thing he’d tell her_ , she thought.  
“Yeah, I am. Are you? Am I bothering you?”  
“You could never bother me, even if you tried,” he chuckled, “I’m great, now that I can talk to you.”

  
Kara’s cheeks became more red than ever, the butterflies in her stomach started fluttering their wings. “S- so, how’s life in the future? Are you all safe?”  
“Luckily we all are, but every single day is a gift; you never know what disaster tomorrow could bring.” Mon-El sighed, resigned at what his life had become: all that mattered was surviving, not living. “Uhm.. I’m sorry if I darkened the mood so quickly, you sounded so happy and I ruined it.”  
“No, no, you have nothing to apologize for, Mon-El. Life’s not that different here either, most of the times. Everything’s frustrating, even Catco is frustrating nowadays.”  
“New boss?”  
She huffed: “Yep. She makes me miss Snapper _and_ Miss Grant.”  
  
Mon-El laughed heartily, “I miss hearing all your rants about Snapper.”  
A second of silence followed: perhaps he had spoken too impulsively, but Kara continued, “And I miss coming home at the end of the day to tell you all about it. I..I miss you, that’s why I needed to hear your voice again.”  
“I miss you, too. I thought I’d never hear those words from you again.”  
“Why not?”  
“I don’t feel.. like I’m someone you’d miss, after all this time.”  
“Of course you are. Why do you think I’d forget you so easily?”  
“I don’t know, I guess I just.. assumed. When Winn went back to the 21st century, I told him to not talk about me unless you’d asked, and when he returned, he just reassured me you were fine and nothing else.”

  
Closing her eyes, Kara damned herself in that moment and wondered why she didn’t dare to mention his name.  
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mon-El broke the silence, and she could practically see his pout just hearing his tone. “I’ve just..” she started “been thinking about us, about our future.”  
“Kara-“  
“Don’t, okay? I already know what you’re going to say, we have to protect our world, we belong in two different times.. but I know you’re not happy where you are. I’m not happy either. I’ve realized I’ve grown tired of just accepting things as they are, settle for something less than what I deserve and being content with what I have. I can’t help but think there’s another way. There has to be.”  
“You don’t know how much I’ve dreamed of going back to you and pick things up from where we left them the first time I had to leave, but.. our story just wasn’t written in the stars, no matter how much we tried.”  
  
“Just like Romeo and Juliet?” Kara asked with a sad smile on her lips.  
“Just like Romeo and Juliet.”  
Kara’s voice started trembling: “Please, be honest with me: if we talked like this, through our rings, everyday… do you think we could make it work?”  
“But Kara, we don’t know how long I’m going to be needed here: it could be years, maybe even decades. What’s the point? We’d just end up being exhausted by the distance.”  
Silence fell between them for minutes that felt never ending, the only things they could hear were their heavy breaths and loud heartbeats: they knew there was only one last thing left to say, but neither of them wanted to say it out loud.  
Kara tried to ignore the sound of her heart breaking, “So, is this goodbye?”  
“I wish it was a ‘See you soon’, but we can’t kid ourselves anymore.” He gulped, but the knot in his throat couldn't be untied.  
  
She had tried her best to follow Nia’s advice, to be more hopeful for her future, to aim for happiness, but she knew she was right when all was said and done: every time she attempted to move a step forward, she ended up falling behind even more.  
“Goodbye, Mon-El.”  
They might’ve been experts at goodbyes, but it never got easier:  
“Goodbye, Kara.”

The next day, when Brainy and Nia asked Kara about the call, she shook her head and never talked about what really happened: deep inside, she knew that in her life there was no room for a love story, no matter how much she craved for one. All that she could do was pick up the pieces of her own heart and go back to work and to being a superhero, as if that call was just a bad dream, meant to be forgotten. _Only time can heal every wound_ , she thought.

* * *

Kara groaned loudly as she walked into her loft, it was one of those days where all she wanted to do was neglect her responsibilities and eat and sleep as much as she wanted.  
“Surpri- Hey, what’s wrong?” He knew that whenever she was upset, nothing else mattered.  
She took off her coat and her glasses, and dropped her bag on her chair as if it weighed a ton: “Andrea assigned me another gossip article! I couldn’t care less about the private life of the mayor of our neighboring city, I’m so sick of this.”  
“Babe, babe,” He put his hands on her shoulder and looked into her eyes, “what did I tell you every single time you’ve gotten a frustrating topic to write about?”

  
“ _’You can’t always write about the most interesting and riveting stories, but the greatest writer is the one who’s able to make the worst topics sound fascinating.”’_ ”  
“Mh-mh.” Mon-El greeted her with a sweet kiss and she huffed, “I’m gonna be honest, I’m pretty proud of that advice.” He finally managed to make her smile even though she didn’t want to, but then again that was his special talent.

It “only” took two years, before the timing was right and their paths could cross again: thanks to Winn’s brilliant mind as an addition to the Legion, they had successfully defeated Brainiac and, once Mon-El had made sure that everyone was safe and the 31st century was in good hands, he returned to Kara, who had never stopped believing that one day they would be together again.  
After all, Nia was right to tell Kara to stop being pessimistic about her future, and - like Mon-El had hoped for - it wasn’t a goodbye, but a _‘See you soon’_.

“Now, come sit, I made you potstickers from scratch!”  
“Did I ever tell you that you’re the best fiancé ever and I love you?”  
“Mhm, a couple of times..”  
As he placed the three dumplings on her plate, a strange sensation took over Kara: “Gosh, I think I’m having a deja vù.”  
“You know what, now that you mention it, I think I’m having one too.”

**Author's Note:**

> a huge thank you to @andromedasmith and @breeallen for helping me fix this ❤️❤️
> 
> find me on twitter @ evetessmacher & tumblr @ iminyourhandskara.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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